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In a post reported from Autoblog, Mazda will be withdrawing the CX-7 from the US market after the 2012 model year. The post mentioned nothing of the Canadian market, where Mazda is a more popular brand than here in the States, so at the time of writing the fate of the CX-7 in Canada is unknown. All Mazda indicated was the CX-7 would continue on in other markets, just not in the US. Here in the States, the new CX-5 will be taking over in the 7′s place.

The CX-7 is no stranger here in The Garage, and two editors have experienced the CX-7 in both flavors. As East Coast Editor, I reviewed the base CX-7 i, powered by a 2.5L four shared with the Mazda3 and Mazda6. A good car with decent fuel economy, our CX-7 was great around town, but its low power and higher weight made the car a chore when it came to merging on highway ramps and passing situations. Up North, Founding Editor Gary Grant sampled a CX-7 with the turbocharged 2.3L four. With 244hp versus 161hp, the acceleration was leagues better, but the turbo CX-7′s fuel economy was appalling. With either engine, the CX-7 was a good crossover beset with compromises no matter which engine you chose.

In addition to replacing the CX-7 here in the US, the CX-5 will also be taking the place of the Tribute. This dated brand-engineered Ford Escape won’t be missed by anyone. Strangely, as the Escape continues to sell strongly even in its current dated design, the Tribute never did much for Mazda. It’s a tough sell to impart your company’s ‘Zoom Zoom’ mentality on a car your company did not design. Even though Mazda still shows the Tribute on its website, looking around it appears Mazda is content to let the leftover 2011′s roll off the lot, and forget about the Tribute altogether.

It should be interesting to see if Mazda’s cleaning house will improve their situation here in the US. As it was, the CX-7 had little chance to hit a chord with mainstream buyers. With the CX-5 Mazda is getting a second chance, while the three-row, V-6 powered CX-9 continues on.

Mazda is recalling has issued a recall of the 2001- and 2002-model-year Mazda Tribute crossover for a possible brake fluid leak. It’s been found that fluid leaking from the reservoir cap on the master cylinder might come into contact with the ABS wiring harness connector, leading to potential corrosion and/or fire.

We’ve been waiting on this action for the better part of a month, as its mechanical twin, the Ford Escape, was the subject of a similar NHTSA recall announced on January 11. The Blue Oval recall covered some 244,000 units for the same problem.

There are 52,390 Tributes affected in total, and Mazda is taking the unusual step of advising that if you have one, you should park it outside until a dealer has made the necessary repairs. You can find a release from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on the matter after the jump.

Where there are winners, there are inevitably losers. Last year was exceedingly kind to big pickups, sprawling family sedans and SUVs, but not every model came out of 2011 with big sales figures. We took the time to dig through the low-selling models of the past 12 months to find out which vehicles produced throughout the year were the biggest duds. Since we aren’t interested in how few Lamborghini Aventador models rolled off of dealer lots in the U.S. in 2011, we kept the MSRP under $100,000.

Our criteria immediately nixed vehicles like the Mazda RX-8, Volvo V50, Ram Cargo Van and everything in the Saab stable due to the fact that those models weren’t manufactured through all 12 months of 2011. High-end metal like the Mercdes-Benz SL, CL and G classes were also kicked to the curb due to our price ceiling. Which was the worst of them all? We’ll give you a hint. It wasn’t the Acura ZDX. Hit the jump to check out our list of the worst-selling vehicles of 2011.